Over the weekend the one and only, Gloria Carter was honored at the GLAAD Media Awards. For those of you who have been following along with JAY-Z’s career are familiar with Gloria Carter; his mother. She was honored at this years GLAAD Media Awards with the “Special Recognition” award for her 4:44 song “Smile.”

The track found JAY-Z revealing for the first time publicly that his mother was a lesbian; rapping “Mama had four kids, but she’s a lesbian/Had to pretend so long that she’s a thespian.” During her acceptance speech at the award ceremony she spoke about her sexuality and coming out to her son. She stated: “Here I am. I’m loving, I’m respectful, I’m productive, and I’m a human being who has a right to love who I love.” She finished things off by adding “So everybody, just smile, be free.”

Have a look at the powerful speech in the video below and give us your thoughts in the comments. Stay tuned for more news coming soon.